How to plan ship activities

[overthecruisetop]

I’m wondering how all the seasoned cruisers plan out their day to day ship activities. I’ve not had Any luck trying to get a cruise compass In order to know what activities are going on what days. For example say I am wondering when formal night is so I can decide if I want to do special dining that night. Or say I’m doing my time dining but want to know what time the trivia starts that night. How do you season cruisers do this without having a dated day itinerary prior to boarding the ship? Thanks for your help.

[Clarea]

I’m wondering how all the seasoned cruisers plan out their day to day ship activities. I’ve not had Any luck trying to get a cruise compass In order to know what activities are going on what days. For example say I am wondering when formal night is so I can decide if I want to do special dining that night. Or say I’m doing my time dining but want to know what time the trivia starts that night. How do you season cruisers do this without having a dated day itinerary prior to boarding the ship? Thanks for your help.

I don't mean to scare you, but .... we wing it.:eek:

[Kamloops50]

We wing it as well.

[gatour]

For formal nights, just keep and eye on the boards and your Roll Call. Failing that enquire here. In general formal nights are on sea days but are not on embarkation days and disembarkation days.

 

For trivia you do need to just wing it. However, there are multiple sessions over multiple days. Some in the morning, some in the afternoon and some in the early evening. So you should be fine.

 

Other day time activities are similiar.

[reallyitsmema]

I’m wondering how all the seasoned cruisers plan out their day to day ship activities. I’ve not had Any luck trying to get a cruise compass In order to know what activities are going on what days. For example say I am wondering when formal night is so I can decide if I want to do special dining that night. Or say I’m doing my time dining but want to know what time the trivia starts that night. How do you season cruisers do this without having a dated day itinerary prior to boarding the ship? Thanks for your help.

 

We over planned in the beginning and tried to do absolutely everything that there was to be done. We have gotten over that and now pretty much just go with the flow. I will make MTD reservations but a lot of the time I just end up cancelling them since we decide to eat in the Windjammer.

[cb at sea]

Night 2 is always the first "formal" night....usually the next to last evening will be the 2nd on. Not that many dress up for the formal nights anymore, but you certainly can, if you want to!

[Merion_Mom]

I’m wondering how all the seasoned cruisers plan out their day to day ship activities. I’ve not had Any luck trying to get a cruise compass In order to know what activities are going on what days. For example say I am wondering when formal night is so I can decide if I want to do special dining that night. Or say I’m doing my time dining but want to know what time the trivia starts that night. How do you season cruisers do this without having a dated day itinerary prior to boarding the ship? Thanks for your help.

Apparently your cruise is a 5 night voyage on the Brilliance from Tampa.

 

There will be one formal night, and it will be Night #2.

 

Trivia will be at various times throughout the day, but there is usually one before first seating, around 5 or 5:30.

 

Other than that, what would you want to know before your cruise?

 

It's not just "winging it". It's "relaxing and enjoying your cruise".

 

So, relax and enjoy your cruise! :)

[mek]

Another vote for just going with the flow. I like to play trivia so I kind of pay attention to that but no problem if I miss it. I just like to relax and not worry about trying to do it all.

[TizaR]

I pre-plan my ports of call and then "wing it" for everything else onboard.

 

Part of my nightly routine is taking a glass of wine back to my stateroom, writing in my travel journal about that current day's highlights, and then checking out the next day's Cruise Compass. I'll highlight the "must-dos" in bright yellow, circle/star/mark other possible activities with a colored pen, and then just see how much (or little) I'm in the mood to actually do the next day.

 

That being said, I haven't been on any of the ships that require advance reservations for the shows. And I don't really do the specialty dining either. So that eliminates some of my need to pre-plan.

[FOXTROT]

After we get done dancing for the evening. Enjoy returning to our cabin. Will take the Compass with me into the other room & enjoy my reading.

[Aggiebuttercup]

Part of the fun for our family is bringing the following day's cruise compass with us to dinner to plan out the activities that we will want to do. Even so, half the time we miss some or all of the ones we planned to do because we got busy doing something else (or nothing at all).

[George C]

We always check program that you get the night before , we also try to call ch some of the trivia, we like sun and pool also casino and will go someplace with music a night.

[hapster85]

We wing it, too. That's part of the fun for us.

[Desert Cruizers]

Other then booking tours ahead of time, I don't worry about activities on board and wait until I see the Compass then plan each day the night before.

[spookwife]

I’m wondering how all the seasoned cruisers plan out their day to day ship activities. I’ve not had Any luck trying to get a cruise compass In order to know what activities are going on what days. For example say I am wondering when formal night is so I can decide if I want to do special dining that night. Or say I’m doing my time dining but want to know what time the trivia starts that night. How do you season cruisers do this without having a dated day itinerary prior to boarding the ship? Thanks for your help.

 

 

quite frankly, we don't. the cruise compasses that get posted by fellow cruisers are always subject to change for a variety of reasons. as a general rule, Formal nights are usually the first full day on board and the second to last night .

 

as for the rest of the week, we figure that out the night before when the next day's compass is delivered at turn down, and we finalize over breakfast.

[SRF]

You will get the next day's Cruise Compass the evening before.

 

You look at it and plan your next day. Some recommend taking a highlighter to highlight those things you want to do. There are a LOT of activities.

 

Prior listings will not always be correct, as days and times change.

[jdg623]

If you really want to do some planning ahead, you can often find Cruise Compasses that others have posted. Schedule can change week to week so it's not carved in stone, but gives you a general idea of what to expect. I'm a planner and for me it's half the fun, but I'm not so OCD that I have to stick to a schedule - the only time I try to plan activities ahead of time is on Oasis & Allure, since there's so much to do and entertainment is best booked ahead. Even then, the schedule often goes out the virtual window once we're onboard. For the Brilliance - as others have said, winging it is your best option. Just relax and enjoy the cruise!!

[Jiffymom]

I like to pack a highlighter pen and each night I mark things that interest me the following day. If you go to the speciality restaurant when you board they will tell you which are formal nights and rearrange your reservations if necessary.

Also go on your roll call ( MnM) on these boards.Im sure experienced cruisers will know the answer

[CORKY_Q]

Just have a couple of Toddies and Wing It!:tropical-drink::tropical-drink:

[Giantfan13]

We are also in the crowd that likes to look at it the night before, ask each other if we want to do this or that. Half the time we forget about it the next day unless it is something we really like to do.

Funny though and many of the 'older' cruisers will remember this. years ago, they used to have a lot more things to do, like lectures about things other than shopping. They had sort of classes for educational things, they had more craft type things to do. On our last cruise on the Grandeur, I spoke to the Captain about having a sort of astronomy class up on deck, maybe after dark. he told me they used to do things like that, but alas, not any more. Those are the things we really looked forward to. Now it's trivia or towel folding. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Cheers

Len

[Scotty G]

The advice I always give new cruisers is to use the Cruise Compass to plan the next days shipboard activities. If you miss something you can make it up by booking another cruise. ;);)

[gatour]

I am usually the early riser, so when I wake I normally go down to guest services and pick up an extra copy for the Compass, so we both have a copy. I then head to the Windjammer for a light breakfast, and look through the Compass to see what activities interest me for the day. Some time during this, my joins me and we give each other our ideas of what each of us are interested in doing that day. While we are married we are not married at the hip.

 

For port days, we would have already discussed what we would be doing. We decide if we want to make it a beach day vs doing some shopping and hanging out at a restaurant or bar that we had discovered on a prior cruise.